Rating: *** 3 stars

Janna Eliot,
Spokes: Stories from the Romani World
Five Leaves , 2008.

Ages 10-14

The 16 short stories ‘from the Romani world’ which comprise this collection are, the blurb informs us, ‘based on real incidents’. They derive from the experiences of various members of ‘the Traveller world’ and, in particular, of some of those who have been forced to seek asylum – many in Great Britain – following political upheavals in their home territories of Central and Eastern Europe. These refugees, we are reminded in the story called ‘The Lady who Turned into a Card’, have often suffered vilification, marginilisation and persecution and Eliot’s stories do not flinch from re-creating narratives where all of these are very much in evidence. But the overall tone, while angry in places, is neither strident nor self-pitying: rather, it is dignified and understated, seen at its most effective and touching in the concluding story, ‘A Mass for Danny’. In literary terms, the stories are not especially distinguished but as an effort to give voice to those whom our society frequently leaves voiceless they merit a place on a young reader’s shelves. A glossary usefully provides explanation of some of the Romani terms scattered throughout the stories.

Robert Dunbar
March 2009, No. 175

Guide to the rating system:
***** 5 stars, unmissable
**** 4 stars, very good
*** 3 stars, good
** 2 stars, fair
* 1 star, poor